“I greatly appreciate the contribution Inglis has made to the development of the thoroughbred industry in China. Inglis has supported Yulong from the start in both China and Australia,’’ Mr Zhang said.

“The Inglis China-Australia Cup has been a positive factor toward the development of racing in China, and has been a great drawcard for the importing of Australian-bred horse by Chinese owners.

“The Australian-bred horse population in China has increased significantly over the past few years and this has seen the quality of horses racing in China greatly improve.

“Yulong would like to thank Inglis and all their staff for their great assistance to Yulong in China and Australia, I very much look forward to building on the outstanding relationship our two companies share.’’

Inglis’ deputy chairman Arthur Inglis will be representing the company at the Inglis China-Australia Cup race meeting this Saturday.

Inglis’ Managing Director Mark Webster thanked Mr Zhang for his efforts with this race day and congratulated him on his success in the thoroughbred industry both in Australia and Asia.

“Mr Zhang is an industry leader and is now understandably and deservingly known as one of the best in the business,’’ Webster said.

“He has developed a first class racecourse in China but has also become a serious player at the Australian sales over the past few years and we look forward to him enjoying many more successes in years to come.’

“Inglis is committed to fostering the thoroughbred industry in China and this weekend’s sponsorship comes on the back of our strong support for the China Equine Cultural Festival (CECF) earlier this month at Ordos.”

The Inglis China-Australia Cup will be run at 5.50pm AEST on Saturday. A live link to the race will be available at inglis.com.au

Shayne Heffernan Funds Manager at HEFFX holds a Ph.D. in Economics and brings with him over 25 years of trading experience in Asia and hands on experience in Venture Capital, he has been involved in several start ups that have seen market capitalization over $500m and 1 that reach a peak market cap of $15b. He has managed and overseen start ups in Mining, Shipping, Technology and Financial Services.